Random entries on observations throughout the fitness world and other relevant encounters.
I'm not above or below, I'm with you.

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Chill Out

(Written some time in May or June of 2012 but recently revisited it, made some changes and addded some things.)

"Advertising has us chasing
cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need."
Tyler Durden

Ironic... the week I remove
the blog for being "too personal," is the week I find the need to
write something really personal. Often, and I've hinted or maybe flat out wrote
it, that these are directed back at me at times. So when reading this, don’t
take it personally... I'm also talking to myself.

That quote at the top popped
in my head today and maybe I shouldn’t admit that they often do. Fight Club
quotes? Kinda weird, no? But it fits.

We're very busy people these
days. We're working overtime or 2 or 3 jobs. “Stay at home,” moms are nearly
extinct. Prices are going up, yet our wages are staying nearly the same. I was
talking to a man who has been driving a semi for nearly 30 years. His son is
graduating high school in a few weeks and then off to college. We somehow got
to talking about school funding and how horrible he felt voting down his local
levy. "I make the same amount of money now as I did in 2002... But
everything around me is more expensive." So he needs a second job.

There are people I don’t see
in the gym as often as they'd like to be there. I ask "where are
you?" and they're busy... and they are. I know it’s not an excuse. I know
they're not blowing me off, it really has zero to do with me or the workout...
they're just flat out busy. School, work, the 2nd job, then errands and
managing life, kids, dinners, little leagues... then we get a free second....

...and that’s where my mind
is. What are we doing with the free moments? When the day is finally coming to
a resting point... what are you doing?

It's 11:43 pm right now... My
resting point began about 90 minutes ago where I wasted some time watching a
sitcom and Greys Anatomy (and what a waste that was! Terrible season finale!).
I'm not overly thrilled about wasting my time in front of the television right
now... I never really have but it’s kind of been automatic, and I'm working on
changing that.

I went on a vacation a couple
weeks ago and had some excellent time to read and write. I remember sitting
there thinking something along the lines of how amazingly ironic that I had to
fly to another country to find time, to force myself to find time, to sit down
with my thoughts... and do nothing but stare into space... and that’s exactly
what I did.

I sat. I read some. I wrote
some notes and observations... random thoughts. It helps clear my head and put
everything in line.

Then I got home and thought
"That habit isn’t lost in Mexico... I need it here." I need to find
time to stop and breathe. We all need that time. We all need to find a way to
sit down and do absolutely nothing.

No television. No computer.
No cell phones. Sit and breathe and that is all. Does that sound crazy? What if
you showed up to an appointment with me... and instead of heading to the
treadmill, we sat in a quiet room... and did nothing but breathe? For 30
minutes, you will sit there and breathe as slow and as deep as you can... would
you be mad at me?

What if that was the best part
of your day? 30 minutes of turning the world "off." What if you did
that every day? What if I told you, you'd start to feel less stressed and that
you'd start to see things differently?

I get it... but I don’t get
it. The car that you thought you needed to make you happy, is the reason you
need to work 2 jobs... still happy?

I talk to so many people
everyday... all week and everyone is stressed. Right now as I write this, I'm
thinking of someone who works too many hours... someone who is in school and working
two jobs.... someone who is so stressed they can’t get their thoughts
straight... someone who sits up til midnight working on a website, emailing,
facebooking, and writing crazy blogs that only his parents read :)

Hi Mom

Take a break... the weather is
going to be beautiful this weekend... go to a park... go sit down and be alone
for 30 minutes.... and do nothing but breathe.

Trust me. You won’t regret
it.

New part:

What if I left the door open
to the yoga room?And bought a bunch of
pillows to sit on... Would you go sit down?No charge.Just a room, an open
door and comfortable place to sit quietly, would you go?

What we started a class like
that?Or ended like that?20 minutes or so of nothing but deep
breathing… so deep you forget where you are… so deep, 20 minutes felt like
5.And you want to go back and do it
again because you actually cleared
your head and it felt unbelievable.

Side note:

Things are headed in a
direction, I think you see that.The
current classes are strong and feel really solid.Everyone is getting stronger, looking good and
having a good time.And very, very soon it’ll
be time to add some new elements.You
will be meeting a few new faces, very good people, with fantastic intentions
and a gift and an insight to share.

As more classes are slowly
added and new people are with us, the entire concept will come to light.